Delegation Resource Manual: Rules & Procedures
Page 111
YMCA PA Youth & Government Program
CHAPTER 12: Legislative Rules and Procedures
Committee Rules & Procedures
Committees are responsible for reviewing a proposed bill and determining whether the action called
for in the bill meets the expected results, is desirable, and is financially feasible, and whether the bill
is written is such a way as to bring about the desired results. Essentially, a committee functions to
allow the sponsor of a bill an opportunity to defend his proposal to other legislators and interested
parties in the legislative process. The committee is generally considered to be the expert body on a
particular subject matter, and is expected to analyze a proposed idea; which is incorporated in a bill
and report its findings to a larger body, i.e. the full chamber. In doing so, the committee is expected
to correct and clean up a bill such that technical language and the actual operative provisions of a
bill are clear, concise and practical. Consideration of the Bill Element Checklist is a minimum basic
requirement for all committees.
All committee meetings are open to all registered program participants. For this reason, a meeting
room may be crowded at times and prone to become noisy. It is important that others attending a
committee meeting not distract the business of the committee. For this reason, all members of the
committee have a responsibility along with the committee chairperson in assuring that the
proceedings be conducted in an orderly fashion with the least amount of interruptions as possible
No food or drinks may be brought into any meeting room by anyone, including committee
members.
Use of Subcommittees
Ideally, there should be a separate committee for every broad subject area. Because of space
limitations with regard to meeting rooms, however, several subject areas are merged into one large
committee. The committee chairperson may, should the range of bills assigned to a committee
warrant it, divide the committee into subcommittees to deal with specific subject areas and bills that
relate to that area. In doing so, the committee chairperson would designate individual members of
the main committee to serve on the subcommittee and appoint one person to be the subcommittee
chairperson.
The procedure for consideration of a bill(s) in a subcommittee would adhere to the same procedures
for consideration of bills in the full committee. In addition, specific bills and reports would be
prepared by the subcommittee and submitted to the full committee chairperson for scheduling
consideration by the full committee. In such instance, the subcommittee chairperson shall designate a
spokesperson for the bill; who would argue the majority position of the subcommittee on the bill.
Such person shall be, where practical, a sponsor of a bill(s) referred to the committee. A majority vote
of the full committee is necessary to either report the bill out to the chamber or to defeat the bill.
Committee Chairpersons
The Committee Chairperson is the Presiding Officer of the committee and controls discussion,
keeps it relevant and decides points of order. All bills referred to a committee are to be considered
